Growing Cricket for Girls a Hit for Wellington Cricket Club
Cricket Tasmania
For the second successive year clubs, associations and schools around Australia can capitalise on the rapid growth in cricket participation for females through the hugely successful Growing Cricket for Girls Fund. Associations, clubs, schools and State and Regional School Sporting Associations can apply for grants of up to $5000 a year over two years as part of a ground breaking funding initiative for female sport that in year one proved to be an instant hit with more than 500 girls teams joining more than 40 new girls competitions around Australia. One such success story was the Wellington Cricket Club who used the funding to enter a team into the inaugural Hobart Hurricanes Girls Under 14 League. This is the first time a club from the Southern Cricket Association (SCA) entered a female team into a roster. Cricket Tasmania Southern Regional Cricket Manager Paul Collins said Wellington is a great case study for all community clubs across Tasmania. “It’s great to see a Southern Cricket Association club utilising the funding available to help set up a junior female team. The SCA has traditionally been great in the junior boys space with a lot of clubs entering teams in the Youth League. There is massive growth potential within this area and Cricket Tasmania actively encourages all community clubs to get involved and help grow the sport. “The Junior Formats Stage 1 playing conditions, which were adopted for this competition, were an excellent way to introduce new female players to pitch cricket and allow them to work on their batting, bowling and overall game sense in an environment suitably aligned to their skill level. “Funding directly assisted Cricket Tasmania and clubs to build their female pathway by minimising the gap between entry level programs such as MILO T20 Blast and the senior teams making female growth more sustainable. “Looking forward, the ideal model would be for more community-based clubs across the state to apply and be involved in the different junior rosters throughout the whole of Tasmania,” Mr Collins said. Ian Marshall from Wellington Cricket Club said the grant application was very simple and it was fantastic that once approved the club could immediately buy equipment just for the girls’ team. “The under 14 girls format was great and the girls improved their skills throughout the roster with shorter boundaries and the reduction in length of pitch which really helped. “The girls gained confidence with bowling and batting and it was great to see balls going for four and six later in roster,” Mr Marshall said.
Wellington Warriors clinch premiership record
The Wellington Cricket Club has cemented its place in local cricketing history by clinching its fifth consecutive Southern Cricket Association (SCA) premiership win.
The Glenorchy-based club took out the premiership title when it went head-to-head against St Anne’s Cricket Club in the first grade SCA premiership grand final in late March.
The Claremont Cricket Club previously held the record with four consecutive premierships.
Wellington Cricket Club president Ian Marshall said the fifth premiership win was a “truly amazing” achievement and a “monumental” day for the club.
He said the club achieved the special victory when it bowled out St Anne’s for 164 in the final innings.
“Wellington were in big trouble at 6/49 before SCA Player of the Year Wayne “Chalky” Quarrell and club veteran Shane “Poppa” Piuselli shared in a magnificent match-winning partnership,” he said.
“With a total of 116 runs, the true Wellington Warriors ensured the club’s historic victory and the team was ecstatic.
“This is the second year in a row they have lost the second semi-final only to fight back with victory in the preliminary and grand finals.”
Mr Marshall said the Wellington Cricket Club had an “enviable record” of winning first grade premierships.
“We have secured 14 out of 15 premierships in the past 15-years,” he said.
“The future looks bright for our club with many young talented cricketers stepping up successfully from the junior format to senior cricket.
“Our junior program continues to blossom and we now have under-13 and under-14 boys teams, as well as an under-14 girls team.
“With continued growth we may even be able to expand our senior teams from three to four grades next season and we hope to continue our success on the field into the future.”
For more information on the Wellington Cricket Club, visit www.wellingtoncricketclub.com.
Caption: The Wellington Cricket Club first grade side rejoicing in its fifth consecutive Southern Cricket Association premiership win.